Donald Trump is on the brink of abandoning his plans for the "world's greatest golf course" near Aberdeen after claiming his £750m project is being threatened by an offshore windfarm.

The billionaire property developer has disclosed he has frozen plans to build the second 18-hole golf course, the five-star hotel, the luxury villas and houses and the timeshare apartments that make up the planned resort until a final decision is made on the small wind-power project.

Instead, the scheme will feature only the first golf course, which is now due to open slightly earlier than expected, in June, and a small, temporary clubhouse. That building would, Trump said, eventually be replaced by a large, "super-luxury" clubhouse, for which Aberdeenshire council has just granted planning permission.

But Trump's threats are fuelling suspicions that he is using the windfarm, known as the European offshore wind deployment centre, as a reason to abandon the golf resort rather than admit the project is no longer viable or affordable.

His criticisms of the scheme have intensified significantly over recent months, and included a direct appeal to Alex Salmond, the first minister. Initially an enthusiastic supporter of Trump, Salmond has refused to intervene over the windfarm, which has already been substantially reduced in scale.

In a statement issued from his New York headquarters, Trump said: "All further plans for future development, including the hotel, are now on hold until the Scottish government makes a decision on the application for the European offshore wind deployment centre submitted by Vattenfall and Areg [Aberdeen renewable energy group].

"If the north-east of Scotland is serious about tourism and creating a global golf destination it cannot allow the coastline to be ruined by an ugly industrial park (11 64-storey test turbines) directly off the shoreline."

Trump admitted in June that the global recession had forced him to delay construction of the five-star hotel, apartments and large luxury housing estate, which were at the centre of the resort plans. He said "the world has crashed" since he bought the Menie estate, in Aberdeenshire, and its vast area of dunes in 2005. Trump is now linking the delay to the windfarm, a position he did not take in June.

David Milne, an immediate neighbour and a critic of Trump, who has resisted pressure to sell his home to the developer, said: "I firmly believe he is just trying to sell. The planning permission he gained [for the clubhouse] was the final piece to increase the sale value of the golf course."That is the only reason they bothered going for it.

Suspicions about Trump's tactics have intensified because there have been clear signals that the windfarm project is extremely likely to be approved, as it is central to the Scottish government's strategy of making the country a global leader in windfarm technologies.

Backed by the European commission, it will be a testbed for some of the most advanced offshore wind turbine designs. The £200m project, which will be 2.5km (1.5 miles)south-east of the Menie estate coastline, is also being championed by many of Trump's prominent supporters in Aberdeenshire. The consortium behind it includes Aberdeenshire council, which backs Trump's resort.

Trump's director of international development, George Sorial, denied Trump was using the windfarm as an excuse to abandon the project. It was "absolutely ridiculous and there is not a shred of evidence" to support such a claim, he said.

Sorial said local opposition to the wind farm was sharply increasing, and he predicted it would be rejected. Trump's threat was designed to underline his determination to resist the wind farm, he said.

Sorial added: "We have spent now approximately £100m and we have built the greatest golf course in the world. We are not abandoning anything. We will fight and defeat the wind farm